TODAY’S TOP ARTICLES – 4 DEC 2014

Japan: Polls: Japan Abe’s coalition may keep supermajority
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s coalition may keep its two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament, media projections showed, hinting he could claim a new mandate for his “Abenomics” recipe to revive the world’s third-biggest economy. (Source: CNBC)

United Kindom: Osborne moves to cut spending to 1930s levels in dramatic autumn statement
The chancellor, George Osborne, set out dramatic plans to move Britain from the red into the black that will see public spending as a percentage of GDP fall to its lowest level since the 1930s and could require cuts in non-protected departments such as police, local government and justice amounting to a further £60bn by 2019-20. (Source: The Guardian)

Israel: Israel’s Netanyahu asks for ‘clear mandate’ in early election
A day after Netanyahu fired centrist members of his feuding governing coalition, faction leaders in parliament agreed on a March 17 date for the election and legislators approved the Knesset’s dissolution in a preliminary vote. (Source: Reuters).